There Are Five
by mtfrosty
Summary: In this line of Jedi, there are five: the Sage, the Shadow, the Swindler, the Soldier, and the Stray.


_There are five:_

 _The Sage, the Shadow, the Swindler, the Soldier, and the Stray. This is how their story goes…_

* * *

The Sage is the first to be born in a year that eventually will only be remembered by its three digit number and nothing more. No one knows his species, so centuries later, after he has trained thousands of Jedi, they decide to name it after him. It is fitting, since he is the last after the other one is killed.

Some wonder if he'll live on forever.

His reputation within the Order is met with a mix of awe, wonder, and (from those who know him well) pity. He is wise, dangerous, gentle, and _bright_. The Force loves him, cherishes him, and gleefully allows him to use it as he wishes. Masters revere him, knights respect him, padawans listen to him, and younglings play with him.

Then he meets the Shadow and learns what loyalty really is. It has been centuries since another person has looked at him and left him feeling so utterly broken and exposed (and how does this _child_ manage to do it?).

No one knows he is struggling (no one knows how afraid he is).

The Shadow asks him questions that he never wanted to answer and still doesn't want to answer, but he tries. The boy appreciates his efforts and the two of them grow surprisingly close.

Then the Swindler is killed and the Shadow leaves (the death leaves him reeling, but the loss of his friend leaves him empty and confused).

But he is still wise, and he is still revered. The Order still has their Sage (even if he is broken).

***0o0***

The Swindler is a bright spark of life that is snuffed out far too soon. He manages to outwit death for over five decades, but in the end he falls. During his living years, though, the Jedi Order is not quite sure what to do with him.

He makes the Sage laugh and ancient green eyes twinkle, so they think that he is definitely worth keeping. He even makes the Shadow less shadow-like and draws out a reluctant smile every now and then from the man that spends most of his waking months spent hunting wicked things. They all know that it takes a special sort of person to accomplish these things…

But what do they _do_?

The Swindler is a lover of life, but he's a crafty one that twists their Code to meet his own ends. The Council eventually decides to stop keeping a record of his various rule breakings and foolish escapades because it is far too much work. He steps before them at least once every standard week. When they roll their eyes at his entrances and attempt to glare him into submission, he only ever smirks back and tells them that he is only following the will of the Force.

Does he know something they do not?

They ask the Sage for answers, because _he_ should at least know what the Swindler knows, but the ancient one is just as lost as the rest of them. Surprisingly, it is the Shadow that seems to understand his wayward protégé better than anyone else, but he is unwilling to expound further than a few words. They attempt to get more, but the shady man only smirks and refuses (this smirk is darker, but if not for that then it would be identical to the Swindler's).

Eventually, everyone just puts up with him.

Eventually tragedy strikes, and the Swindler's rebellious streak is tempered with grief.

Eventually darkness encroaches and the Swindler is left floundering, for he had always believed that light would be victorious over darkness every time.

Eventually the Swindler becomes less crafty and more wise.

Eventually the Swindler meets the Soldier.

The Soldier makes the Swindler laugh again, and everyone thinks this is a good thing, a beautiful thing even. For even though they dread the return of the infamous rule-breaking explosion that is sure to follow, they can't help but anticipate the deep baritone laugh and the sheer, boundless _joy_ that only the Swindler is able to invoke.

When the Swindler laughs, the Force is warm and bubbly. Like a child.

But the explosion doesn't come. There is joy just the same, but it seems that the Swindler's Soldier is a stickler for rules and loyal to their Code. This pleases them.

The Swindler teaches the Soldier for _years_ , and it is only later that they realize that he still violates their Code and that their hopes have been dashed to pieces, because the Soldier has broken it too. The Sage is baffled, but beginning to understand.

The Shadow understands perfectly (but no one knows this).

The Swindler swindles them out of their Code and replaces it with a challenge. It is a dying challenge, but a bold one nonetheless.

"I _will_ train the boy," the Soldier tells them. His posture is rigid, the shoulders too tense and the mouth in far too straight of a line. They recognize grief when they see it, especially in this one. Right now, the Soldier is the spitting image of the Swindler.

 _Can your Order raise this child properly? Can you love him?_

It is a challenge, and the Soldier has accepted it. The Sage cannot (he is afraid and reeling from more than one loss). The Shadow is nowhere to be seen (he blames them for killing his Swindler).

The Council sighs and agrees. As if their agreement means anything, for the Soldier has already made up his mind and he is even more stubborn than the Swindler that trained him.

***0o0***

The Soldier is a puzzle to everyone, even the Sage. Most suppose that only the Swindler had truly known him, but now the man is dead and the Soldier is distraught.

Or so they believe; no one knows for sure. He goes on living, but now he is training a stray. _The_ Stray. The Swindler had believed in picking up pitiful life forms and it seems that the Soldier is continuing on in that most baffling of traditions.

But no one objects, because the Stray makes the Soldier smile and he makes him laugh and he makes him frustrated and irritated. In short, the Stray makes the Soldier human. The Sage tells the rest of the Council that the future is clouded, but these two will play an important part in restoring balance.

Whatever that means.

But the Sage is wise and the Force tells him things, so they listen.

***0o0***

The Force tells the Soldier things too. He has visions, ones that don't make any sense, but people are always dying in them and he learns to hate his dreams.

The Force gives him feelings; he can sense when things are about to go wrong. Most joke about his bad feelings, but more often than not they prove true.

The first time he kills someone, he is thirteen. He kills another boy and thinks that he wants to kill himself because what sort of _Jedi_ kills a boy? Jedi don't kill. They protect, they bring peace, they negotiate agreements, they follow the will of the Force…

Jedi don't kill. And so he won't become one.

It is no surprise to him that no master picks him as an apprentice, but it is no less of a disappointment. It is only affirmation that he isn't good enough. So they send him to go learn how to farm and he thinks that he could be good at this farming thing. They teach him how to use certain droids to distribute nutrients. He learns which plants grow in which climates. The Soldier makes an excellent farmer.

But he wants to be a Jedi, even though he knows he never will be.

Then by accident (but the Force tells him that it's no accident), he meets the Swindler again. This time, the master makes him an apprentice and now he's a Jedi.

He learns the Code and he learns it well, so well that he knows how often his master goes against it. But maybe it _is_ the Force's will and in that case, maybe the Code is wrong…

Then civil war happens and he thinks that he should have just stayed a farmer. Love happens, strife happens, fighting happens, and then death. There is no time for love to grow, fighting follows strife, and death puts an end to all of it. The Soldier is left to himself, shattered and battered and bleeding (if he wanted to be a Jedi so bad, why did he leave to be a part of _this_?).

The Swindler finds him and picks up the pieces.

Then the Swindler dies and the Soldier picks up his own pieces.

The Stray reminds him of the Swindler and so it's easier to accept him as a friend instead of remembering that the boy had been his replacement. Soon enough, he forgives the Swindler for that betrayal and he forgets it ever happened. He teaches the Stray and grows to love him.

He switches his fighting form. The Swindler had died with offense and so he adopts defense and perfects it.

Then boy meets girl and the Soldier can tell that his student is smitten. She really has grown into a beautiful woman, but he is only reminded of _that_ mission.

 _This_ mission ends in death. Too much death. The Shadow comes out of nowhere and suddenly everything falls into place because the Soldier is _very good_ at seeing the big picture (the Shadow has always been crafty and it isn't hard to see entire governments falling to his charm). They fight and he falls, beaten.

He will die by failed defense.

But then the Sage shows up and the Soldier has never seen the ancient Jedi look so _hurt._

When they arrive back home, the Stray is given a robotic appendage while the Soldier looks on (he has an odd feeling that it won't be the last time this happens to his boy).

Not a month later the Soldier becomes a general. The killing starts again and he thinks very often about what it might have been like had he been content to plant seeds and watch them grow. He thinks the Swindler would have been proud of him for taking care of plants.

But not for killing. Never for this. The Swindler loved life, not death.

But the Soldier does his job and he does it very well. He tries to be a Jedi in spite of his deeds. The Order holds him up as _the_ Jedi, the one that their younglings should aspire to be.

 _Don't_ , he silently pleads. _This is not what a Jedi should be._

The Stray disagrees. He testifies to the wisdom of his mentor (as wise as the Sage), and the power that he wields (as powerful as the Korun). The Soldier gains a reputation that is known throughout the galaxy. The enemy fears him, and the Order reveres him.

The Sage is proud of him.

The Shadow looks at the Soldier and sees himself: a wielder of both words and weapons, powerful in the Force, renowned throughout the galaxy, broken and tired.

One difference. The Shadow fell. The Soldier endures.

* * *

 _There is a sixth, though she is rarely mentioned. She is the Secret, and she is part of this story (though most forget)._

* * *

War rages and the Sage feels his age. He is so very tired of everything and it is during times like these that he feels the weight of centuries resting on his small frame.

He watches the Stray grow from a boy into a man and the future darkens further. The Force is uneasy and unclear and he is restless. The Soldier brings him hope when no one else can, for it seems the man is eternally optimistic in spite of his many bad feelings and morbid sense of humor.

In a flash of brilliance (and it is a flash, because he's become something of a fool lately) he sends the Stray a student.

She is a wild thing, full of untamed energy and snarky arrogance. The Secret is the Stray's perfect match. They get on well together and even the Soldier softens under the gentle blows the youth dishes out. She is genuine when so many others have crafted masks to wear in place of themselves. She is their fire: young, vibrant, curious, and a lover of life.

The Stray brightens considerably, as does the Force. For a few precious months, they all think they will survive this.

The Secret is never knighted. Instead, she is betrayed, convicted, and cast out. She casts herself out and tells her master that she can no longer be a Jedi.

The Stray wishes he could follow her, but he loves his wife so he stays.

The Soldier wants to follow her, but he is a Jedi so he stays.

The Sage wonders how everything went so wrong.

***0o0***

The Shadow is the second one that falls for good. Death comes by the blade of the Stray, and the Force loses all warmth. Later, when the Sage learns of this news, he is not surprised.

He felt it when the Shadow died.

Things will happen fast now, he thinks. The Shadow had been the darkest of the five (six, including her) up to that point, but he had acted as a shield. A buffer. A final defense. The contingency plan when all else failed.

Nothing stands in the Stray's way now. Not the Soldier (for he loves him, but he is a Jedi), not the Sage (for he is a Jedi, and he is afraid to love), and not the Secret (for she is no longer a Jedi and she refuses to return).

Everything begins to burn.

***0o0***

The Stray lives up to his namesake and drifts far from the light and from the Jedi, though he stays close enough to destroy both.

The Soldier does what he has always done best. He fights for what he knows is right.

The planet is one of the darkest in the universe. It has a sun, but no light ever reaches it. Toxic gases cloud the sky with thick fumes and the air is barely able to sustain life. Rivers run in currents of molten orange and give off steam hundreds of degrees too hot.

The ground is black.

It is here, all alone, that the Soldier and the Stray duel.

It ends when the Stray falls, armless, and the Soldier weeps (only now does he see that _he_ is the one responsible for his boy becoming a monster).

***0o0***

The Sage falls too. It's a long fall that leaves his old body bruised and sore, but his soul is the worst for wear.

Then the Swindler appears (and it takes him a moment to realize that he's real), and tells him that evil hasn't won.

Perhaps the Sage is not as wise as everyone thinks he is. Perhaps the Swindler is wiser than them all.

***0o0***

The Soldier becomes a hermit so that he can watch over the boy. It is a simple life that gives him far too many hours to think and brood.

When the Swindler tells him to stop brooding, he jumps out of his skin and then admonishes the Swindler for his devious nature.

The Swindler only laughs.

The Soldier wonders how he can laugh at a time like this, and then he asks him that very question. It is with great delight and a roguish wink that the Swindler asks a question in return.

 _When did I ever teach you to abandon pathetic life forms?_

***0o0***

The Secret and the Stray meet again years later. At this point, the Swindler has visited the Sage and the Soldier only, but he never appears to the girl.

She doesn't need him.

There is hope in her still and she tells the Stray exactly that, even as two white-hot blades clash with another that bleeds red. The Stray is baffled, and for a moment she thinks that maybe she won't have to die here (she knows she can't win this).

In the end, she loses.

The Secret dies alone.

* * *

 _Most say there are five: the Sage, the Swindler, the Shadow, the Soldier, and the Stray. It is the Secret that never gets remembered, for her name was never great._

 _There are six in all, and only the Swindler is believed to have died untainted, but even he bears the marks of anger given to darkness._

 _Only the Secret dies undefeated._

* * *

The Soldier is the next to die, also at the blade of the Stray. When he dies, it is with a smile on his face and a peace in his heart that even he doesn't understand.

There is no body, only a robe and a lightsaber.

His death is the ultimate prank and the Swindler is proud: the Stray is graced with simultaneous victory and defeat.

***0o0***

The Sage disappears only when he decides it is time. He is tired and ready, and so he does what the Swindler told him to do (after centuries of living, he is a fast learner).

Moments later, he is greeted with deep laughter (the Swindler) and a gentle smile (the Soldier). It is only after he has greeted them that he notices a third.

She is the one that gets down on her knees and hugs him close.

***0o0***

When the Stray finally succumbs, he is more machine than man and his circuits are utterly fried. The monster dies at his hand and he hopes that things will end.

They do.

And they don't.

The Swindler claps him on the back, the Sage offers him a sagely nod of respect, his Secret snarks out a greeting before throwing her arms around him and crying, and the Soldier…

"I'll pay you back for that last one." This is his greeting to the Soldier, whose smile widens considerably.

"I'm looking forward to watching you try. I think you'll find that it's difficult to die here."

The Stray frowns, but then he grins, and this time _he_ is the one who throws _his_ arms around the Soldier. The man stiffens at first, but then he relaxes.

There is no longer a reason to fight, and he is glad of that.

* * *

 _There are six (though most will tell you five…)._

 _Their line begins with the Sage, grows with the Shadow, changes with the Swindler, endures with the Soldier, falls with the Stray, and finds hope in their Secret._


End file.
